As we approach the busy selling season, it's time to ramp-up your sales team. This month, help your team get back to the basics - they still work!

Managers, take a minute with each of your salespeople to monitor their sales and appointments so far this month. Here's how:

The turnover rate for automotive salespeople is about 45%. Why? Maybe they're just not right for the job or they're lazy and unmotivated. Or maybe they need a little direction and most managers are too strapped for time to give it to them. Virtual Sales Coach is for the managers who know that their sales teams aren't expendable. The ones who drive their salespeople to succeed, not just sit back and hope that they do. Here's how it works:

As a manager, you face many different threats in today's economy - shrinking budgets, slowed consumer spending, loss of key staff, etc. But one of the biggest threats to your dealership that can often get overlooked is complacency. Complacency can come in many forms and at many levels of an organization, but it all leads to the same thing: decreased production, lack of accountability, and reduced revenues.

As a dealer, you spend a lot of time thinking about your customers. How can you bring them into the store, provide a great sales experience, and hold onto them long-term? These questions are very important, but not just for your customers. Shouldn't you be asking them about your employees too?

There is a fine line between being a manager and being a leader. A manager is someone who is in charge of the work place; a leader is someone who inspires, guides, and coaches a team toward a common goal. Chances are you're a manager now because you were very successful as a salesperson. But your success as a manager - and as a dealership - depends on how well you lead your team.

When customers walk into your store, they feel the culture you've established - whether it's warm and inviting or hostile and off-putting. For better or worse, every interaction that customers have with their salespeople will make or break your dealership's reputation. What type of environment are you fostering? Here are some questions to help you figure it out:

The Benefit Ball is an exercise in learning the features and benefits of a particular vehicle model. It can be a great addition to your team's sales meetings or training sessions. Here's how to play:

Managing your sales team in the age of CRMs, DMSs, ILMs, and other dealership technologies can be both difficult and rewarding. On the one hand, many of your store's processes can be automated, which saves time by decreasing redundancies. On the other, these programs can be expensive, hard to learn/implement, and, as is the case with most technology, can unintentionally build a disconnect between your managers and salespeople. In many cases, managers rely so much on technology that they begin to "manage by wire."

The average salesperson turnover rate in automotive dealerships is nearly 50 percent. And according to Delta Trends, a retail industry employee compensation and retention consulting firm, it takes about three years for a salesperson to become fully trained and develop their skills. What, then, does retaining a sales staff for three or more years do to a dealership's bottom line? Aside from the costs saved in recruiting, hiring, and training new workers, it improves customer loyalty, drives more repeat and referral business, and increases profits.